Archive for June 2009

I want to give you all a head start on the next free pattern for the S&C blog. Get your skein of Spud & Chloë Sweater in Grass wound and ready for next week when I post the pattern for…Ribbit! This friendly little guy has a clever twist. You are going to fall in love with this quick and simple knit. Your knitted frog will provide a little summertime fun for everyone. He may even become your new go-to knitted gift.

Be sure to hop on back next week to check it out and to print out the pattern. Fire up your needles, Knitters. Have a good weekend and start thinking froggy thoughts!

I want to share a few photos of the Blue Sky Alpacas and Spud & Chloë booth at TNNA. This first photo is focused on the Blue Sky Alpacas half of the booth. It was rustic and elegant at the same time. The farm table was covered with a lace runner and a beautiful tabletop crystal candelabra filled with yarn. The place settings had bowls that were filled with luscious yarns good enough to eat. Yum. Samples of yarn and knitted versions of all of the patterns were sprinkled throughout. It was a feast for any knitter’s eyes to be sure.

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The enormous large pattern photos on the walls were stunning. A Knitted Chicken even made an appearance along the wall along with a couple of chicken timers from the last show. The grass covering on the floor made all the difference in setting the scene. You felt like you had stepped outside only you were inside, a little Alice in Wonderland. It was like a cozy refuge from the cold, hard convention hall. I swear I heard a running brook and birds chirping in the background.

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Every detail was perfection. I was just soaking it all in. When I got to spend time in the booth I never wanted to leave and I don’t even camp. It was the atmosphere, the friendly people and everything to look at combined. I loved every inch of it. What I really longed for was some quiet time to take in and relish everything but the booth was filled with people at all times, which is a good thing!

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The Spud & Chloë half of the booth was down-home camping fun complete with a vintage child-size lawn chair, a picnic basket or two and an old-fashioned plaid thermos that reminds me of my dad. I wonder if there was any hot chocolate in there? You can see the Hoot Hat, the Flap Happy Hat, the Pom Pom or Knot Hats and the Boy Meets Girl Hats. This was the place to be for hats. I see the Aztec Scarf, too. That one’s a beauty I’d like to try.

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I love that the wall on the Spud & Chloë side of the booth is painted in pumpkin. What a great rich color. I think the attention to detail was astounding. When you stepped into the booth area there was this feeling that you had been transported to another world, a campground world to be specific. The best part for me was the chance to see all of the knitted samples from the pattern line. The sweaters are all especially fantastic. To see them in person made me want to knit every one of them (for myself).

I thought it would be fun to share our booth with you. If you were at the show it is fun to reminisce. If you weren’t at the show you can get a small taste of what it was like to be there in person. All of the pattern information can be found here.

This morning I realized that I am in complete immersion. I even looked up the definition of immersion: the state of being completely engaged or involved; absorption. That’s what is happening to me. I am completely immersed in the world of Spud & Chloë and loving it, head over heels loving it. I have two patterns I am writing up this morning, one for the Spud & Chloë line and one for the Blue Sky Alpacas line. Both designs are fun and playful. It’s all I can do to not sit and knit with the S & C yarns all day long. Believe me if I could I would. I know as you are getting these fantastic yarns and patterns in your hands that you are going to join me in the Spud & Chloë immersion. The more the merrier! We are going to have some fun together.

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…..”

I joined in for a monthly hat knitalong on Ravelry in this group. I am very active in this group and I make a lot of Spud & Chloë announcements here. One thing this group does is a ton of charity knitting that goes all over the country and beyond. Join in if you’d like. Another important Ravelry group is called High Fiber. This is the official Blue Sky Alpacas/Spud & Chloë group. Please join us here, too, if you have an inkling. You’ll get all the news and updates hot off the presses in these spots and right here, of course.

Anyway, I needed a baby gift for a new little sweetheart so I whipped up the Upside Down Daisy hat. This is the hat of the month for June in the knitalong. The pattern is available for free download here. What a perfect project for a little Spud & Chloë Sweater in Watermelon, Ice Cream, Firefly and Grass (love those color names so much). You know, one of the first things people always ask is how to take care of a knitted project. Well, with this beautiful, squishy machine washable yarn that’s an easy answer. It’s the perfect combination. Care is no trouble at all.

I took these photos in the very early dawn light this morning. This hat pattern never fails and neither does the yarn. The yardage is so generous that you could easily get several tiny-sized baby hats out of one skein.

Anyway, just a brief check in this morning to share my S & C Sweater daisy hat and to declare my state of immersion. More and more shops are getting the S & C products online. We are excited to have been part of the Purlbee yesterday. Hop on over for a good read and review.

By the way, my 15 year-old son is begging me to knit him up the Track Jacket in Chipmunk (love that name, too). When your teenage son asks you to knit for him you jump to it! Those requests can be few and far between, right? Maybe some of you would like to join me in knitting this excellent design for men. People are always saying that there aren’t enough patterns for men and boys, well our new pattern line is very inclusive of this group. Be sure to check out all of the options here.

Let me know if you are interested in joining me on the Track Jacket. I haven’t even started yet nor do I even have the yarn in my hands to knit it. All of that needs to be done and quickly so I don’t lose my chance.

Before I went to TNNA, a couple of weeks ago, I quickly whipped up 9 tiny flowers in our Spud & Chloë Fine. My goal was to make my store-bought cardigan a bit more special. I think it worked. A little flower here and there is always a good thing.

If you want to add a flower or two to something or other here is the simple pattern for you to follow.

Chain 1. Single crochet 8 into the ring. Join the round with a slip stitch.

*Chain 4. Slip stitch in the next stitch.* Repeat from * to * 9 times to make 9 petals. Join the round with a slip stitch.

Cut the yarn and pull it through the stitch. Weave in the end to the wrong side if not using it to attach to another item

That’s it! How simple is that? Now, I used a needle and thread to stitch my Blooms on my cardigan. If you are going to stitch your Blooms on something you knitted or crocheted leave a longer tail and use that threaded on a yarn needle to whip stitch on. I left the petals free and stitched around the center.

Let me think of all of the things, knit or store-bought, you could flower up in style:

bags, sweaters, hats, blankets, hairbands, headbands, barrettes, buttons (if you made the ring bigger the flower could fit around a buttonhole and the button could pop through the center when buttoned up), scarves, gloves, mittens, dish towels, napkins, etc. This list could go on forever.

Wow! Thanks for the fantastic response to our new site and blog and products. TNNA was an experience we won’t soon forget and that’s due to all of you. We are just as excited about Spud & Chloë as you are. We’re just getting warmed up and it will be fun to have so many of you coming along right from the start.

I have been getting loads and loads of questions on how actually to get Spud & Chloë yarns and patterns and the pattern box. Well, here’s the skinny, the low-down, the 411 on how to get your hands on the S & C products:

The Spud & Chloë site is not a direct to consumer retail site. However, we will direct you to places you can purchase our products locally or online. The first thing to do is to look at the stockist list which is always available at the top of the Spud & Chloë site. This list will be updated regularly as stores are being added so check back frequently to see if your local yarn shop has been added.

All stores that pre-ordered S & C were shipped last week. Those orders should be arriving to stores now! Hooray! Orders that were placed at TNNA will start processing today and shipping will start today. You’ll have your S & C in no time at all. Thanks for the pre-orders, it has helped us plan in advance and we appreciate that.

Otherwise, if your local yarn shop (lys) is not listed, please contact your lys and ask them about Spud & Chloë or better yet, tell them about us if they don’t know. Then the shop should contact us for more information. We are happy to talk with shops or they are welcome to email us. All contact information is here and is always available running along the bottom of the pages on the site under, contact us.

One last thing, this blog will be featuring free and only free patterns here for your taking. I’ve already got a big line-up of free patterns ready to go so be sure to subscribe to the blog so you can stay on top of the action. There is a spot to enter your email at the top of the blog sidebar. I am also on Twitter for Spud & Chloë so please hop on over there and click on “follow” for up to the minute announcements and other fun stuff. The twitter account entries are also running on the sidebar of Spud Says! so you can check in there as well.

Okay, I hope I’ve answered some questions. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have more. I am responding to folks in the comments on the posts. Please feel free to leave questions in the comments and then check back later for the answers. This works great because others may have the exact same questions that you do. I’ll be as efficient as possible in getting answers for you.

Auntie Sarah

Effervescent Auntie Sarah went from Customer Service to Design Coordinator and newbie Designer in a flash–watch her bubble! Her very first free pattern was Super Soakers, and since then she has peppered us with delightful creations such as Etched Rio Wrap, Compass Cowl, Paw Hat, and Situpons.